General election latest: Sunak insists he is ‘proud’ of campaign marred by D-Day gaffe and betting scandal
PM clashed with BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg as he was faced with viewers’ questions
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Rishi Sunak has insisted he is “proud” of his election campaign as the Tory leader has just days left to secure votes.
In a fiery interview with BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg, the prime minister was questioned about the tax burden, the party’s gambling scandal and his own faux-par when he left D-Day commemorations early.
Mr Sunak also warned that Sir Keir Starmer would cause “irreversible damage within just 100 days of coming to power”.
The prime minister said Labour “cannot be trusted” and predicted that the plan to impose VAT on private schools would cause “chaos” for families.
Meanwhile, Labour said Sir Keir’s first steps would be restoring economic stability and cutting NHS waiting lists as “the work of change begins”.
It comes as Reform UK has withdrawn support from three of its parliamentary candidates as the party is caught up in a deepening racism row.
The party, spearheaded by Nigel Farage, is no longer endorsing Edward Oakenfull, who is standing in Derbyshire Dales, Robert Lomas, a candidate in Barnsley North, and Leslie Lilley, standing in Southend East and Rochford after alleged comments made by the three candidates emerged in the media.
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Nigel Farage claims Reform UK activist who directed racist comments at Rishi Sunak is ‘an actor’
Nigel Farage claimed a Reform UK canvasser who called for English Channel migrants to be used as “target practice” was an actor.
Farage claims Reform UK activist who directed racist comments at Sunak is ‘an actor’
Nigel Farage claimed a Reform UK canvasser who called for English Channel migrants to be used as “target practice” was an actor. When challenged that “all sorts of people are actors”, on Sky’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips programme (29 June), the Reform UK leader said of the canvasser who was filmed by an undercover reporter: “He’s an actor – a rather well-spoken actor – but he has an alter ego. He does what he calls ‘rough speaking’. “I was there working in the office in Essex when he turned up and he was, from the moment he walked through the room, like a version of Alf Garnett (a character from the 1960s sitcom Till Death Us Do Part who used racist slurs).”
PM says there’s a ‘clear difference’ between Frank Hester and Nigel Farage racism rows
Rishi Sunak said there is a “clear difference” between his handling of the racism row surrounding Tory donor Frank Hester and how Nigel Farage has responded to racist comments made about the Prime Minister by a Reform UK canvasser.
Appearing on the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme, the Prime Minister was shown a message from a viewer who condemned the campaigner’s language but expressed concern that Mr Sunak’s stance on racism had not been zero-tolerance.
The viewer pointed to Mr Hester, from whom the Tories continued to accept donations, having allegedly said Diane Abbott “should be shot” and made him “want to hate all black women”.
Mr Sunak said: “I think it’s reasonable when someone is genuinely contrite about what’s happened, accepts what they’ve done is wrong, then that apology is accepted.”
He added: “The difference here is... Nigel Farage has just described these comments as ‘inappropriate’.
“They’re not inappropriate. They were vile and racist and wrong, but he’s only said that they’re inappropriate.
“The person who made them has only apologised to the Reform Party for the impact it’s had on them. It’s a very clear difference. There’s no contrition or remorse or acceptance of what’s happened in that case.”
Watch: Sunak clashes with BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg over Brexit: ‘You’re completely wrong’
Rishi Sunak says he is proud of disastrous election campaign - and claims he will win
Rishi Sunak has said he is “proud” of his disastrous election campaign - and claimed he would win Thursday’s general election.
The prime minister has come under fire in recent weeks for a series of calamities that included a rain-soaked announcement of polling day, leaving D-Day commemorations early and a gambling scandal.
But in a crunch interview with just days to go before the vote, Mr Sunak told the BBC‘s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg show “this campaign is something I am very proud of” as he sought to highlight Labour’s plans.
Kate Devlin reports:
Rishi Sunak says he is proud of disastrous election campaign - and claims he will win
Conservative leader faced backlash after he left D-Day commemorations early, has seen his party become embroiled in a gambling scandal and is 20 points behind in the polls - but says he will still be PM on Friday despite admitting Brexit has been bad for many businesses
PM says Reform canvasser’s racial slur was ‘deeply inappropriate and racist'
Rishi Sunak said the slur used about him by a Reform UK canvasser was “deeply inappropriate and racist”.
The Prime Minister told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg show that anyone becoming a politician expects a degree of criticism because it “comes with the territory”.
But he went on: “But in this instance, you know, what was said was deeply inappropriate and racist.”
Mr Sunak said he hated having to repeat the phrase used about him but thought it was important to call it out.
He said that Britain is “the most successful multi-faith, multi-ethnic democracy anywhere in the world”, adding: “That’s why views like this are so damaging and so wrong.
“They belong to a minority of people and they deserve to be called out for what they are, and that’s what I did.”
Rishi Sunak hit back at what he claimed was a “declinist narrative” when asked whether it was a mistake to change course on net zero.
BBC presenter Laura Kuenssberg pointed out that some people, including the independent Climate Change Committee, believe that the UK has lost its status as a leader on the issue.
The broadcaster said there was “plenty of evidence” that the economic reality of Brexit is that Britain’s standing long-term is “more challenging”.
Asked whether he thought the shift was a mistake, the Prime Minister appeared frustrated as he said: “No, and actually you started that question with something that I fundamentally disagree with: ‘because of Brexit, we’ve lost our standing in the world’.”
Told that was not what the she had said, he replied: “You said we’ve lost our standing in the world. That’s completely and utterly wrong.”
Mr Sunak cited Britain building new nuclear submarines with Australia and the United States, and the negotiation of the Windsor Framework with the EU and support for Ukraine.
He claimed that “people are queuing up to work with us because they respect what we do”.
“So I just completely reject that, it’s entirely wrong, this kind of declinist narrative that people have of the UK I wholeheartedly reject.”
PM confronted by viewers’ questions
Rishi Sunak was told viewers want to “stick to the policies of the person who is sitting in the chair” after he accused Labour of planning to reaccept EU laws when asked about Brexit.
During questions on trade negotiations since leaving the European Union, he told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme: “You haven’t mentioned we’re the first European nation to join the CPTPP trade deal.
“We were negotiating very closely with India and I’m confident that we will be the first European country, again under a Conservative government if we’re re-elected, to negotiate the trade deal that steep with India, which again is one of the fastest growing parts of the world... I don’t think it’s right for Labour to end up re-accepting EU rules that we have no say over.”
Ms Kuenssberg said: “I’ll remind you, as I have every politician in the last six weeks, that our viewers want us to stick to the party’s policies of the person who is sitting in the chair, with respect.”
Rishi Sunak says he is 'proud' of his election campaign
Rishi Sunak has said he is ‘proud’ of his election campaign.
“This campaign is something I am very proud of,” he told the BBC.
It comes after he left D-Day commemorations early and his party became embroiled in a gambling scandal.
PM: ‘Investing in defence shows we have strength’
Rishi Sunak said investing in defence shows the UK’s adversaries that “we have strength” as he added “the world is dangerous”.
When challenged about his plan to cut civil servants to fund this increase in spending, he said: “We’ve had a massive expansion of civil servants since the pandemic to deal with it, it was reasonable at the time, but it’s no longer reasonable.”
Sunak: ‘UK is better place to live now than when Tories first came into office’
Rishi Sunak said the UK is a better place to live in now than it was when the Tories took office in 2010.
The Prime Minister told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg: “It’s a better place to live than it was in 2010.
“Of course I understand that the last few years have been difficult for everyone.
He cited the pandemic and the war in Ukraine driving up energy bills, insisting “we are now on the right track”.
It was put to him that the country has become poorer by many measures since 2010, and public services are worse.
“I just don’t accept that,” Mr Sunak replied, citing education and saying “our schoolchildren are now the best readers in the western world”.
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